I Know How to Pronounce My Name!

[Misanthropical]

My name ends with an "a" but people will call me a name that ends with an "e" I don't respond to that, since it's not my name. My name is not that complicated, how hard is it to say it the right way? It must be very complicated the way people act when I correct them.

Yes, I know my own name and how to spell it, so trying to correct me is not going to work.

BossMan will tell coworkers what my correct name is if they want me to respond to them, since he knows it bugs me when people say my name wrong.

My last name I can understand that people will have a hard time with it, since it's Italian and yes, people have tried to correct me on the proper spelling of it.

[FuzzyKitten99]

If you think any of your names are strange, check out this one that belongs to a local (for me)meteorologist: http://kstp.com/article/stories/s19505.shtml?cat=28

Yes, "Chickage" is her real first name. It is pronounced "Chi-caw-gay". She's half Japanese, and her name means "thousands of views or vistas."

[Dreamstalker]

And my last name... I have a Polish last name so that stumps a LOT of people... the other day I had to muster and wait for my name to be called. The guy reading off the list just paused... and I said, "Here!"

I have a Slovak last name and have confused quite a few people. It has gotten to the point where I can identify junkmail just by looking at the label (either my middle initial or my last name is some form of wrong).

[Soulstealer]

I have a Slovak last name and have confused quite a few people. It has gotten to the point where I can identify junkmail just by looking at the label (either my middle initial or my last name is some form of wrong).

My father changed the spelling of our last name to a more english spelling for documents, good thing too since I'm currently studying in the U.S. I still can't find any english speaker that pronounces my first name properly.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I have a Slovak last name and have confused quite a few people. It has gotten to the point where I can identify junkmail just by looking at the label (either my middle initial or my last name is some form of wrong).

In a similar vein, my last name throws a lot of people as well. I can identify telemarketers by the way they pronounce my last name:

TM: Hello, is Mr (horrific butchering of my last name) there?
Me: No. (hang up)

The same thing used to happen in school whenever I had a substitute teacher.

ST: (taking attendance) (First name)(ah-wuh? What did he/she just say?)
Me: I'm here!

[Chromatix]

Among English-speakers, my name is easy to pronounce (but it often gets spelled wrong). Among Germanic-language and Finnish speakers, however, it is fairly consistently pronounced wrong. But it's consistent enough that I recognise it easily, and I don't get offended about it.

Finnish has a *very* consistent mapping between spelling and sounds, so sometimes I even pronounce it the "wrong" way to clue the locals in how to spell it.

[RetailWorkhorse]

lol. i'm soooo use to that.
My first name is of Hebrew origin but it's still common... i do still spell it out when I'm giving my information to someone cos most of the time they use the "new" spelling (bleh!).

And my last name... I have a Polish last name so that stumps a LOT of people... the other day I had to muster and wait for my name to be called. The guy reading off the list just paused... and I said, "Here!"

I'm more astonished when people who don't know me pronounce it properly.

Dudette! I have the same combo! Oh, dog, that's weird. Sad thing is when I have GIRLS come up to me and say "Like, OMG! My name is [WHOOSH~!], too!!"

*Twitches*

Yes, thank you so much for reminding me of that little aspect of my life. Now leave me alone. Stupid teenagers.

No one has gotten my last name right. Not even a fellow Polish or German has gotten it right. And it's so EASY to pronounce!

[Phantomgrift]

Ah, but puns are our friend!

You heard the one about the Indian who drank a hundred gallons of tea right?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
He drowned that night in his teapee.

[ArcticChicken]

I don't have much of a problem with my name, thought spellcheckers and the people who keep calling at inopportune times to ask me who I'm voting for keep trying to add an 'L' to it.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, has Latvian last name, and nobody can pronounce it. Funny thing is, it's spelled phonetically.

I also have a co-worker who's name is exactly like a common girls name, but with a different first letter. Almost every body tells her that she spells her name wrong, or just says the other name.

[tollbaby]

When I say "Just think of what a ninja would say when attacking." THEN they remember.

But.... but.... ninjas are silent!!!!!

[blas]

I don't think anyone has ever....corrected the pronounciation of my name, but older people have tried to tell me that my name is spelled wrong.

I have a name that has many, many different spellings. I think in America it's mostly a female name, but in Europe it's pronounced different and more popular as a guy's name (Ville Valo's dad's name).

Just because my name isn't spelled the way Laura Ingalls Wilder's little sister's name is spelled doesn't mean it's wrong. And I've come across quite a few other girls who spell their name the same way.

[Aramika]

In a similar vein, my last name throws a lot of people as well. I can identify telemarketers by the way they pronounce my last name:

TM: Hello, is Mr (horrific butchering of my last name) there?
Me: No. (hang up)

I do the same thing, so I guess sometimes it pays to have a weird last name.

[rerant]

AHH! Welcome to my life!
I've gone through this EXACT same thing with people.
I know my name, I know how to spell it, I know how to pronounce it. Sheesh.

[Try to Fly]

for those of you with not so common today names
Does it bother you when someone sees your name tage and says something like "Please tell me how do you say your name" or "What an unusual name . . .please tell me how to say it" or "I don't like to use the wrong name . . .please tell me . . .how do you say your name"

I realize it might get old to hear those all the time . . .but does it truly bother you to be asked vs having someone insist on saying your name differently than you say it?

Nope, it doesn't bother me. My only issue is when people argue with me over it.

[jaya9581]

I thankfully now have a common, easily-pronounced last name, but growing up my last name was Borges, which is Portuguese, and pronounced "BORE-jess".

Mispronounciations included "borgs" "bor-hay" "borgeese" "bur-jay" "burgs" "bor-hees" and "bor-gay".

It always delighted me to correct people, but aggravated me to no end when they continued to have trouble with it, especially growing up in a state with a high Portuguese population where it's a fairly common name.